Marouane Fellaini was appalling in his first season at Manchester United and his reputation wasn’t helped by being the only signing of David Moyes, who had a dreadful time at the club too.

The midfielder has played much better this season and managed to keep Cesc Fabregas, the best performing player in the league up until his visit to Old Trafford, in his back pocket during United’s 1-1 draw against Chelsea.

Fellaini has reflected on last season and talked about the expectations for this season.

Last season we didn’t play well as a team and it was easy for people outside the club to say it was me because the manager brought me with him, but that was something I had to deal with. It was a difficult moment because in all my career I hadn’t experienced anything like it. I learnt a lot. I care about what people have to say, of course, but my concern was for my family, my mum and dad and my brothers, because when [critics] are saying bad things about me, it will have been very hard for them. Last season was not good enough for Manchester United. We know that and we are working hard to put that right. In some ways it is too early to talk about the title because we are still building and it is only December, but we are winning matches consistently again and when that happens your belief grows. At the very least we have to be in the top four; we must do that. I wanted this challenge.